John writes:
>
>What I mean, is. If someone asked, about HT, and wanted something that
> say Mozart, sounded good with. I would want to offer the HT, that would
> have the best chance of suceeding. It is not my opinion I want, it is
> something to please them.
>
>If, I make the wrong choice, then they are, gone.
> Not being a piano player, I can't try them myself, ahead of time.
Greetings,
There are two considerations here.. One is recognize that Mozart's
keyboard writing is basically found only in the lower 7 keys. He doesn't use
keys that would have had a wolf in a meantone, so there is reason to consider
him a possible meantone composer. On the other hand, he was living in a era
that would have made it possible for him to be influenced by Werckmiester's
rules, so the Well Temperaments must also be considered.
That said, what Bob mentioned is valid. It is by experience that the
right amount of color is selected, and that can depend on the audience as
much as anything. A tuner that has experienced a lot of well tempered music
will have an opinion on what the right tuning is, but the consumer is the one
that has to be pleased.
Once the change has been accepted, then the stronger temperaments are a
lot more likely to be used. This is what works for me. And I will agree,
that once the customer hears something they don't like, they are not usually
interested in pursuing the investigation any farther.
My preferred method is to begin the ET departee with a very mild change.
I use Jim Coleman's #11, but the Victorian style that Jorgensen publishes is
also a contender. These tunings restore some tempering texture to the music,
but also make a big difference in the way the pedal performs, and this is
usually noticed as an increase in clarity. At the same time, you only have
your widest thirds spread about 4 cents wider than normal ET. I have a much
better acceptance rate with this than I did when I began with a Young.
Good luck,
Ed Foote RPT
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